Missing the tubing hill at Garvin Park

January 19, 2009 - Per Peterson

As I watched my kids slowly slide and bounce their way down a small hill near the Tracy swimming pool Sunday, practically praying they’d eventually pick up speed to jack up the thrill-o-meter a notch, I couldn’t help but wonder what that sledding is like at the “tubing hill” in Garvin Park is like this winter. The hill, which has been shut down for years for a number of different reasons, was one of the best tubing hills in the area. I did a column on the hill a couple years ago and was told the only way it could possibly open back up is if a group of volunteers got together to stay out there and watch over things, and hand out insurance waivers to everyone who wanted to use the hill. It’s unlikely the county would pick up the bill on the insurance, especially during these tough economic times. Who knows if the hill will ever reopen and today’s generation of kids will ever get a chance to experience a real tubing hill like we did when we were kids — zooming down a hill so fast, you have to force yourself from closing your eyes. I hope they eventually do. It’s the perfect source of entertainment during our long, boring, cold winters — cheap thrills would be one way to put it. Nah, let’s call it inexpensive thrills. Cheap thrills sounds, well, cheap. We finally had the pre-Christmas snow this year, and you can bet that hill would’ve been hopping. I hope our county leaders haven’t forgotten about this treasure we have in our own backyard. I also hope that someday perhaps someone will step up to lead a volunteer group, full of people who are willing to sacrifice some of their time to oversee the hill — at least on the weekends when there’s no school and the kids are bored out of their heads. We’re always talking about getting the kiddies outside and away from the TV and computer, yet, here we sit, just miles away from a great sledding hill and a great opportunity to do just that. No offense to that hill in Tracy, but I swear one of my kids yawned on the way down during one run.